Tag: doctors

Doctors from across the world assembled for an international conference at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here said there is a widespread defeatist perception about brain tumour even among doctors, which is not right. “Even in a Bollywood movie, if someone has to die, the character is told to be suffering from brain tumour and there is an immediate acceptance by all about his death,” said Rakesh Jalali, Director of South East Asia’s First Proton Therapy Centre (SEFPTC), Apollo Hospital, Chennai. Jalali is one of the 400-odd…

When 86-year-old Carol Wittwer took a taxi to the emergency room, she expected to be admitted to the hospital. She didn’t anticipate being asked if she cooks for herself. If she has friends in her high-rise. Or if she could spell lunch backward. Wittwer’s care is part of a new approach to older patients as US emergency rooms adapt to serve the complex needs of a graying population. That means asking more questions, asking them earlier and, when possible, avoiding a hospital stay for many older patients. The surprising truth?…

Doctors in the US have successfully reversed brain damage in a two-year-old who became unresponsive to all stimuli after a drowning accident. The girl experienced cardiac arrest after a cold water drowning accident in a swimming pool. After resuscitation at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in the US, MRI revealed deep brain injury as well as grey and white matter loss. She had no speech, gait or responsiveness to commands, and was constantly squirming and shaking her head. Since hyperbaric oxygen therapy was not available in the patient’s location, doctors at Louisiana…

Doctors were bewildered when they went through the case sheet of a woman who was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer nearly 10 years ago. More than a year after a full dose of radiotherapy, cancerhad spread to the lung. By then the disease should have claimed her life. Yet, she continues to visit them for periodic checks. Tests show she is free of the ailment. When diagnosed with cancer, her oncologist at the Cancer Institute (WIA) here had included her name for an experimental treatment – immunotherapy. Rather than directly…

Young children can choke to death on whole grapes, warn the authors of a new report. Doctors in Scotland describe three choking cases — two of them fatal — that involved boys aged 5 and younger who were eating whole grapes. “There is general awareness of the need to supervise young children when they are eating… but knowledge of the dangers posed by grapes and other similar foods is not widespread,” according to Dr. Jamie Cooper and colleague Dr. Amy Lumsden. Cooper works in the emergency department at Royal Aberdeen…

Stopping physical exercise during the winter season increases the storage of cholesterol in the body, medical experts here said on Thursday. According to them, another reason that contributes to the cholesterol storage during winters is the lack of vitamin D synthesis from sunlight. “A decrease in sunlight pushes the body to store more cholesterol than usual as a protective measure. The seasonal variation in cholesterol levels could lead to more progression of fatty liver disease in the winter. Physical activities decrease during winters, and skipping exercise routine may be a…

Female doctors are better than male doctors in treating elderly patients in hospitals, according to a new study led by researchers from Harvard University. They found that chances of patients dying or getting readmitted in the next 30 days went down if the doctors were women. It is the first time that a study has documented how male and female physicians’ treatment leads to different outcomes for patients in the U.S. The researchers estimated that if male physicians could achieve the same outcomes as their female colleagues, there would be…

Some older people who get what’s known as white coat hypertension – a spike in blood pressure at the doctors’ office – may have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, a study suggests. White coat hypertension is pretty common – lots of people get stressed out around doctors and it’s not unusual for this to result in high blood pressure readings for patients who have normal blood pressure outside the exam room, researchers note in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. When researchers examined data on…

Doctors are warning about vitamin D again, and it’s not the “we need more” news you might expect. Instead, they say there’s too much needless testing and too many people taking too many pills for a problem that few people truly have. The nutrient is crucial for strong bones and may play a role in other health conditions, though that is far less certain. Misunderstandings about the recommended amount of vitamin D have led to misinterpretation of blood tests and many people thinking they need more than they really do,…

With numerous cases of burns and irritation reported every year during Diwali, health experts on Wednesday cautioned people to avoid fire crackers as their smoke can cause damage to the respiratory tract, especially among children suffering from asthma. Health experts here said people having a healthy respiratory system can suffer from lung-related problems after getting exposed to the smoke of crackers, which mostly includes aluminium powder, sulphur and barium nitrate. “During Diwali, children prefer crackers prepared from aluminium powder, sulphur and barium nitrate. When they are burnt, they release pollutants…